Prometheus Helped Many Entities Prepare LPFM Applications

Prometheus Radio Project says the organization helped educate more than 1,000 groups to help them prepare for the low-power FM application window that closed Nov. 15. Prometheus offered free help through webinars and its website.

The Prometheus engineering team worked with 300 entities to help them submit their LPFM applications. These stations aim to target audiences with programming about various topics like environmental protection, veterans’ issues, immigrant communities, healthcare access and cultural preservation.

Prometheus predicts the FCC will release information regarding applicants who got a CP for an LPFM early in the next year. The organization plans to continue to interpret the FCC data and convey that to the public when available.

Organizations will have 18 months to build stations once they receive their CPs.

“These stations transmit less than 10 miles in any direction, but that small range can cover an entire town, suburb, or small city.” In big cities, a low power station can potentially reach hundreds of thousands of listeners, according to Sanjay Jolly, policy director for the Prometheus Radio Project.

“Since only local organizations are eligible to apply, low power stations can make radio relevant to the towns and cities where they broadcast,” said Jolly.